World’s First Yeshiva for Baalei Teshuva Marks 60 Years

By COLlive reporter

Yeshivas Kol Yaakov Yehudah – Hadar Hatorah in Crown Heights, billed as the world’s first yeshiva for baalei teshuva, celebrated their 60th anniversary at their Annual Dinner on Sunday evening at the Jewish Children’s Museum.

The yeshiva, located at 824 Eastern Parkway, was founded in 1962 by Chabad Rabbi Yisroel Jacobson, to accommodate Jewish men interested in full-time study in a traditional yeshiva environment.

Rabbi JJ Hecht, head of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE), played a pivotal role in the yeshiva’s development and was its dean. After his passing, the yeshiva was renamed in his memory.

The Yeshiva has produced “thousands of alumni who have established beautiful families around the world and are a huge source of nachas for the Rebbe,” Dinner Chairman R’ Shimon Sherr said.

Rabbi Yaakov Goldberg, Rosh Yeshiva, addressed the event as well, thanking his colleagues and the leaders of the NCFJE organization.

During the celebration, they honored 6 alumni, spanning 6 decades of the Yeshiva, who “epitomize the values of the Chinuch received at Hadar Hatorah, who have successful careers in Shlichus and education,” they said.

Honorees included:

Rabbi Dr. Dovid Sholom Pape, longtime educator and editor of the Tzivos Hashem Magazine;
Rabbi Yehuda Ferris, Shliach in Berkeley, California;
Rabbi David Wohl, Chairman, Math Department, Lander College for Men; Rabbi Yisrael Moshe Ort, Director of Chabad of Auraria Campus in Denver, Colorado;
Rabbi Matisyahu Devlin, teacher and Mashpia in Miami, FL;
and Rabbi Reuvein Mizrachi, teacher at Darchai Menachem in Crown Heights.

VIDEO: 60 Years of Hadar Hatorah

VIDEO: Full Event Replay